Golf-practice device and indicator



L. B. KLEMM OLF PRACTICE DEViCE AND INDICATOR Filed Nov. 10, 1925 Patented Dec. I 1926.

UNITED STATES LOUIS B. KLEMM, OF FBEEPORT, NEW YORK.

GOLF-ERACTICE DEVICE AND INDICATOR.

Application filed November 10, 1925. Serial No. 68,111.

My present invention pertains to exercising apparatus and means for indicating the strength of an athletic effort; and it contemplates the provision of a device. adapted the device constituting the best to advantageously serve a twofold purpose with particular reference to the game of golf, one of the functions of the device being to enable a' pla er by practice to improve his stroke, an the other function being to apprise the player of the strength of the stroke and this in terms of yards so that the player will be informed of the distance that the ball impelled by a particular stroke would travel were the ball free.

To the attainment of the foregoing, the invention consists in the improvement as hereinafter described and definitely claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming part of this specification I Figure 1 is a top plan view illustrating ptactical embodiment of m invention of whlch I am aware, as the sai device appears when'anchored to the ground in position for use.

Figure 2 is a horizontal section of the device. I

Figure 3 is a longitudinal verticalcentral section of the device. i

Similar numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all of the views of the drawings. K

The casing of my novel device is preferably of metal and preferably, though not necessarily, of the configuration illustrated, that is to say, with a rounded major portion 1 and a ta er end port-ion 2. The said casing is ma e up of a base 3 and a cover section 4, the latter detachably connected at 5 to the former so that when necessity demands access may be readily gained to the interior of the casing.

In accordance with my invention, the easmg top wall is apertured adjacent to the small end of the casing as designated by 6, and above and in coincidence with the said aperture 6 is arranged an upstanding tee 7 the said upstanding tee 7 being preferably formed of superposed spring convolution as clearly shown 1n Figure 3 and therefore not being liable to breaka e when a bad stroke is made and the head 0 the OH club brings up against the tee. The sai tee 7 is,

. connected at one end to the casing section 4 so as to constitute a permanent portion 'of the device. At 8 the base section 3 of the caslng 1s provided with apertured lugs ithrou h which stakes may be driven to adequate anchor the device to the ground. It wil also be noted that the base section 3 is provided at its heel end with a handle 9 through the medium of which the device inayi be carried in pendent fashion in the Arranged in the comparatively large portion of the device casing is a drum 10 -circumferentially rooved as illustrated, and connected to and adated to be taken up on said drum 10 is a ca le 11 of appropriate character to which is e'rmanently and strongly connected a go f ball 12. The drum 10 is of chambered type for the sake of compactness in construction, and in the said drum is arranged a coiled spring 13 disposed and connected in such manner that when the drum is'turned by the moyement of the golf ball 12 away from the devlce, the

spring 13 will be tensioned so that when themomentum of the ball 12 ceases, the retraction of the spring 13.will operate by turning of the drum 10 in reverse dlrection to take up the cable 11 and bring the ball 12 back to its position upon the upstanding tee 7. The drum 10 is connected with and adapted to actuate a pointer 14, it being within the purview of my invention to employ any appropriate means for effecting the said connection. In the construction illustrated the drum 10 is fiked to a spur gear 15 and said spur gear is meshed with a s ur'gear 16, and with respect to the latter, t e pointer 14 1s directl fixed. The ointer 14 is displayed throug an arcuate 5 0t 17 in the upper section of the casing as are also numbers in regular sequence from right to left, the said numbers being designated by 18, and belng designed in conjunction with the polnter 14 to indicate the number of yards the ball 15 made incident to eachv stroke impelled thereagainst. v

Within the casing and for the guidance of the cable 11 to the best advanta e, I provide the tube 20, appro riately xed with res ect to the casing. T e said tube 20 has a ared rear end 21, and also has an. upturned end 22, the latter below and in c0- incidence with the aperture 6 and the open ing through the upstanding'tee 7.

As brought out in Figure 3, the numbers 18 are carried at the upper side of a plate 30, connected at 31 to the upper section of .the casing and disposed below the arcuate will be movable between the said plate and the top of the upper section of the casing.

Manifesth in the practical use of my novel device, the same in addition to afford ing means for practice and means for indicating the strength of the several strokes and this in terms of distance, it will be noted that my novel device may be used as a competitive device calculated to afford considerable entertainment to two or more players striking one after the other.

It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the general taper of my novel device toward the tee end thereof is of material advantage inasmuch as it materially lessens the liability of a golf club striking the device when the club is wheeled for the driving of the fastened golf ball adapted to be superposed upon, the tee. It will also be appreciated that the relative arrangeinent of the spring 13 and the drum is of importance inasmuch as it renders it feasible to make the device as a whole quite thin so that the device will offer but a slight projection above the surface of the ground upon which the device is anchored.

I have specifically described the preferred embodiment of my invention inorder to impart an understanding of the same embodiment in all of its details. I do not desire, however, to be understood as confining myself to the specific construction and relative arrangement of parts as disclosed, my invention being defined by my appended claim within the scope of which structural changes and modifications in arrangement may be made without affecting my invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters-Patent, 1s:

A golf practice device comprising a body tapered in width toward one end and provided in its top wall adjacent to said end with a vertically disposed aperture for the passage of a cable on an anchored golf ball, and also having in coincidence with said aperture and above the same a resilient tee formed by convolutions of springs one above the other and connected at its lower end to the body. in combination with a hollow drum in the body and in parallelism with the top wall of the body, a cable guided in the body and connected with and adapted to be wound upon the drum, a golf ball connected with the said cable and adapted to be disposed upon said tee, and a coiled spring nested in the drum and adapted for the retraction of the cable and golf ball.

ture.

LOUIS B. KLEMM.

In testimony whereof I affix my signa- 

